Pages

11/05/2013

28th European Union Film Festival Begins Nov. 14!

Today I attended the media launch for the Canadian Film
Institute’s annual European Union Film Festival (EUFF). This year marks the 28th
edition of the EUFF and the strong line-up that the CFI revealed today hints at
a very good festival. The EUFF, easily the CFI’s largest and most popular event
of the year, is one of Ottawa’s must-see events for local cinephiles.

This
year’s line-up offers twenty-seven films in total. All member states of the
European Union, save for Malta, have films in this year’s programme. (But film
buffs can add a screening of the Maltese co-pro World War Z in their own living rooms if they want all the stamps
on their passports.) Pickingonly one film to represent a nation cannot be an easy task, especially
if that one film may be the only piece of national cinema that screens in the
local film scene until the next festival. Many of the screenings at the EUFF
are truly films you won’t see anywhere else. Diodora Bucur, one of the members
of the EU Delegation to Canada whom I had the chance of speaking to at the
festival, emphasized that the team effort of the EUFF is equally apparent in
the two sister festivals held in Toronto (beginning Nov. 14) and Vancouver
(beginning Nov. 22). The EUFF, as Bucur remarked, serves as a strong
opportunity to share arts, culture, and experiences between nations. The films
at the EUFF introduce filmgoers to corners of world cinema they might not find
elsewhere. Even for a Romanian-born filmgoer like Bucur herself, the festival helps
create fans of European cinema by showcasing films that might be hidden by
Hollywood hits in the cinemas of their own country. (The latter point is something
Canadians can certainly relate to.)

The
diverse programme demonstrates the team effort that goes into the festival, as
the EUFF enjoys a collaboration between both the programmers of the CFI and the
officers of member states. European Union Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, making
a timely remark in her introduction of the event, noted that the efforts of the
member states to bring their films to the festival in Canada shows that the EU
is not all about trade. “We’ve always supported free trade in terms of ideas
and images,” added the CFI’s Executive Director Tom McSorley. The announcement of the festival
selections concluded with the premiere of the festival’s trailer (see below),
made by CFI programmer Jerrett Zaroski, which connects the diverse styles and
themes on display in this year’s festival.

This year’s EUFF opens November 14th with the
Lithuanian documentary, The Other Dream
Team. As is the tradition with the EUFF, the festival is organized under
the Presidency of the Council of the European and the submission of the
presiding member, in this case Lithuania, is the first film of the festival. The Other Dream Team is one of four
documentaries at the festival this year, which is a notable expansion for the
presence of documentary film at the EUFF. Other docs include Finland’s Alcan Highway (screens Nov. 23; Hot Docs
review here), Ireland’s Natural Grace: Irish
Music and Martin Hayes (Nov. 26), and Spain’s Bajarí: Barcelona (Nov. 29).
The programme also includes three Oscar submissions for Best Foreign Language
Film: Solvenia’s A Trip (Nov. 22) was
submitted last year, while Luxembourg’s Blind
Spot (Nov. 17) and Sweden’s Eat,
Sleep, Die (Nov. 22) are competing in this year’s race. The Oscar
submissions are always the first films on my festival schedule and are
recommended starting points for anyone seeking the hottest titles in world
cinema. The festival closes on December 1 with the delightful road movie Jackie from The Netherlands, which stars
Oscar winner Holly Hunter and sistersCarice
and Jelka Van Houten. (TIFF review here.)

Grand Central's Tahar Rahim will attend the EUFF on Nov. 18

This year’s EUFF also includes two exciting guest
appearances that are sure to draw line-ups at their respective screenings. Producer
Matthias Drescher will attend the screening of Germany’s Shifting the Blame (Nov. 28), while actor Tahar Rahim (whom film
buffs will remember from the 2009 hit A
Prophet) will appear for the presentation of France’s Grand Central (Nov. 18). Co-starring alongside Rahim in Grand Central is one of the stars of
another of France’s most acclaimed films of the year, Léa Seydoux from Blue is the Warmest Color. Seydoux won’t
be at the festival herself, but many of the film’s at this year’s EUFF will
include video messages from directors and stars.

Among the highlights of this year’s festival are:

The Other Dream Team
Dir. Marius A. Markevicius | Lithuania | 89 min.
Thursday, November 14, 7:00 pmSynopsis: The incredible story of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team, whose
athletes struggled under Soviet rule, became symbols of Lithuania's
independence movement, and - with help from the Grateful Dead -
triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics. As the Berlin Wall fell, the newly
freed nation turned to its national basketball team and basketball
stars, many having won gold wearing USSR colours in 1988, to give hope
to its people and to make dreams a reality. A documentary that is as
inspirational as it is enlightening. As the New York Times observes, it
“...merges political history and sports mania into a triumphant
timeline.”

Superclásico

Dir. Ole Christian Madsen | Denmark | 99 min.

Friday, November 15, 7:00 pm

Synopsis:
Christian is a Copenhagen wine seller on the brink of bankruptcy.
Equally unsuccessful in love, it has been 17 months since his wife,
Anna, left him. Anna works as a soccer agent in Buenos Aires and now
lives a life of luxury with Argentina's top player, Juan Diaz. One day
Christian and 16-year-old son Oscar get on a plane to Buenos Aires.
Christian arrives under the pretense of wanting to sign the divorce
papers, but what he really wants is to win Anna back. Short-listed for
the Denmark’s foreign language Academy Award nomination, Superclásico is a winning comedy, from the director of Flame and Citron (2008). Starring Anders W. Berthelsen and Paprika Steen.

Blind Spot

Dir. Christophe Wagner | Luxembourg | 96 min

Sunday, November 17, 2013, 4:00 pmSynopsis: The mysterious and charismatic Inspector Hastert takes on one final case
before he retires: the death of a fellow cop. He is helped by Oliver
Faber, who is also the brother of the slain officer. Corruption and
deceit are on the menu, and that’s just for starters... The case
develops as a complex and smart game of manipulation where nothing and
no one are what they seem.

-Luxembourg’s official submission for the 2013
Academy Awards

Grand Central

Dir. Rebecca Zlotowski | France | 94 min

Monday November 18, 2013, 7:00 pmSynopsis: Gary (Tahar Rahim) has a high-risk job in a nuclear plant and lives with
the other workers, struggling to make ends meet. His life gets
complicated, and dangerous, when he falls in love with Karole (Lea
Seydoux), the wife of his co-worker. Grand Central takes a familiar
story of a love triangle and places it in an unusual, politically and
environmentally charged context. Zlotowksi’s film features superb
performances by Rahim and Seydoux, and it crackles “with a young and
reckless energy that mirrors the characters” (Hollywood Reporter), and
weaves in a convincing depiction of the contemporary underclass.
Nominated for the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard award, Grand Central is compelling viewing.

-Star Tahar Rahim will attend the screening

Living Images

Dir.Hardi Volmer
| Estonia | 135 min

Thursday, November 21, 2013, 8:30 pmSynopsis: Living Images is a sweeping drama that takes us through the
20th century by telling the stories of two Estonians, Helmi and Julius.
The film begins with their birth in 1908, in a house belonging to Baltic
Germans, and ends in the end of the century in a newly liberated
Estonia and the arrival of neo-capitalist values. Impressively, it
manages to both tell an intimate love story while chronicling Estonia’s
turbulent 20th century. As we move through time, the film’s look
changes, too, from a classic silent era film style, to full colour and
sound, revealing the history and development of cinema itself. An
ambitious, remarkable film.

-Note: Estonia, which had the best film at last year’s
festival with Demons,also had the best post-screening
reception last year, so film buffs who enjoy a good mingle, drinks, and free noms
should attend.

Eat, Sleep, Die.

Dir. Gabriela Pichler | Sweden | 104 min

Friday, November 22, 2013, 7:00 pm, Auditorium, 395
Wellington St.Synopsis: Grounded in the director’s own experience growing up in a working-class immigrant family in a small Swedish town, Eat Sleep Die
is gritty and affecting. Raša (the magnetic Nemina Lukac) lives with
her father in a working-class town and has a job at a food processing
plant. She’s a hard worker and well-liked by her colleagues, but when
the plant announces layoffs are coming, she’s knows that her Montenegrin
background may make it difficult for her to find other employment. When
her father is forced to relocate temporarily to Norway to find work,
she hides the news of her layoff from him as long as possible. This
stunning directorial debut is Sweden’s entry for Best Foreign Picture at
the 86th Academy Awards in 2014.

I’m an Old Communist Hag

Dir. Stere Gulea | Romania | 98 minutes

Monday, November 25, 7:00 pmSynopsis:Starring Luminita Gheorghiu (Child’s Pose), director Stere Gulea’s (Weekend With My Mother)
film tells the story of Emilia, a 60-year old woman who lives
peacefully with her husband Tucu in a small town. The couple is joyful
when they receive a phone call from Canada: their daughter, Alice, will
visit them together with her American fiancé, Alan. Things could not be
better for Emilia, who looks forward to basking in the young couple's
happiness. Moreover, Emilia, who is famous in the neighbourhood for her
communist nostalgia, is asked to be part of a documentary about the
extensive festivities organized on August 23, the national holiday
before the '89 Revolution. The family reunion turns complicated when
questions of memory and history demand answers.

Shifting the Blame

Dir. Lars-Gunner Lotz | Germany | 93 minutes

Thursday, November 28, 7:00 pmSynopsis: A violent young criminal and his victim come face to face in this
tightly wound study of guilt and redemption. The twist is that Eva, a
social worker at an experimental rehabilitation centre for young
prisoners, is unaware that angry young inmate Ben Graf is the thug who
once brutally attacked her. Scared of eventually being recognized, Ben
is forced to confront the demons driving his aggression and consider
feelings of guilt and remorse for probably the first time in his deeply
troubled life. Tautly constructed, Shifting the Blame is tough, tender and compelling.

Synopsis: The
compelling story of Ioannis Varvakis, who ascends from humble Greek pirate to
international caviar millionaire. His wealth and power, however, do not give
him contentment, and his boundless ambition only brings suffering until meets a
true love. This epic tale, based on Varvakis' real life, moves from the Greek
island of Psara to the court of Catherine the Great in Russia and the shores of
the Caspian Sea, and then back to Greece, a country torn by civil war and the
fight for independence in 1821 against the Ottoman Empire. The highest grossing
Greek domestic film last year, God Loves Caviar also features
legendary performers John Cleese and Catherine Deneuve.

Jackie

Dir. Antoinette Beumer | The Netherlands | 100
min.

Sunday, December 1, 7:00 pmSynopsis: Jackie follows twin sisters Sofie and Daan (played by sister actresses
Carice and Jelka van Houten) as they learn that their birth mother,
Jackie (Holly Hunter) is ill and decide to travel to America to see her.
When they arrive, they are surprised at what they find: a rather
cantankerous woman with a broken leg and a pierced eardrum living in the
vast landscapes of New Mexico. To get her help, Sofie and Daan must
drive Jackie to a rehab facility 800 kilometres away. What could
possibly go wrong? Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy, and
amusing, ride.